Anklet
by JulyB96
Summary: Annabeth thinks back on certain things in her life and ends up reliving a special memory. Lukabeth in a brother/sister way. One-shot. Didn't know how to summarize this. Give it a chance?


This is just a idea that came to me and I ended up typing it out. It could be a Lukabeth, but in more of a brother/sister way. I don't usually write angsty/sad fics, but I tried my best!

Hope you like it and thanks for reading! 3

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_How did you know he never fully turned his back on us? That he wouldn't betray us in the end? _

They would ask me these things and I would do nothing, but shake my head and smile.

"Gut feeling." I'd say again and again, but no one believed me of course. Everyone came to the conclusion it was because I was a Daughter of Athena. They said I was gifted, one of the best half-bloods of her generation.

"What happened on Mt. Olympus was amazing," A camper whispered to another. "I bet she matches up with Daedalus, in ranks of Athena's children of course."

"Maybe even better!" The other camper said, a little too loud. The first became a little embarrassed and dragged the second away. It wasn't a surprise anymore, about what happened on Olympus, after the war, gossip spread like wild fire.

But it wasn't true. None of it was true.

I wasn't some all-knowing Daughter of Athena who saw every move, every battle before it hit her.

How did I know Luke was never truly evil? Simple.

An anklet.

Yes, a small 6-inch anklet that was wrapped around my left ankle. If I were to ever tell anyone this, they'd look at me and think Mr. D had messed with my head. There is a chance that they might not call me crazy, but that would require reliving a memory I'd never shared with anyone, not even Thalia. Not even Percy.

Although though I hadn't talked about it who knows how long, the memory was still always fresh in my mind.

"_Annie, stop crying." Luke said, kneeling down so he'd be face to face with me. It was two days after Thalia and Luke had found me in that alley way. I had gotten a new pair of clothes, a backpack, and even a little Owl Beanie Baby; most of it— alright, all of it was stolen, but I didn't really care. A monster had attacked earlier and we were currently back at our safe house._

"_I'm sorry," I sputtered, trying to stop the tears. "If I hadn't been in the way, Thalia wouldn't have got hurt. I'm just causing you guys more trouble; you don't have to talk care of me."_

"_Hey, now don't you say that," He reprimanded softly. "It was only a scratch and Thalia is going to heal up just fine. She drank some nectar and she's resting. See? No harm done."_

"_B-but . . ." I stuttered. _

"_No, none of that," He said, sitting down and patting his lap. "Come over here." I obeyed, dropping into his lap and resting my head against his chest, still sniffling a bit. He stroked my hair, trying to calm me down. My father used to do that, before he married my step-mother of course. "Alright, now why would you think Thalia and I have to take care of you? We want to take care of you, Annabeth."_

"_I don't know, you guys are being so nice to me, and people are rarely nice to me. I guess it was just an idea—" I stopped short when he started chuckling. _

"_Where would you get such a silly idea? We're friends." He smiled._

"_What?" I gasped, looking up at him through my tangled curls._

"_We're friends. Is that such a big surprise?"_

_I played with the zipper on his jacket as I spoke, "It shouldn't be, but I've never really had many friends. Kids would run away after awhile, saying that I didn't play fair, I always won. The only one I had to talk to was my dad and after he met my step-mom even he started ignoring me. Having a friend, that's a completely new concept to me."_

"_Hmph," Luke pulled away for a moment, fishing something out of his pocket and then held it up in front of me. "Do you see this? This is an anklet. I was going to give it to you later, but I think now is better."_

_It was a tiny little thing, with a simple intertwining pattern of thick, green and gray string. There was a small knot on either end, preventing it from unwinding. "Why do you want to give it to me?"_

"_Well," Luke started, picking me up off his lap. He began to tie the anklet around my foot. "Look at this as a friendship anklet."_

_He paused to smirk at my dumbfounded expression, before continuing, "The anklet will always be with you and when it unwinds, our friendship breaks. This way you'll know we are and always will be friends. Go it?"_

_I nodded and looked down, shaking the anklet with my leg, "Do you think it's too loose?"_

"_No worries, kiddo, you'll grow into it." He smiled, pulling me into hug. I looked him in the eye and held out my pinky._

"_Friends forever?" I asked, smiling. He took my pinky and gave me his trademark smirk._

"_Friends forever, Annie."_

"_Oi! You two still alive? Can I have some help?" Thalia called from where she was resting. Luke put a finger to his lips, silently telling me not to mention anything about this to Thalia, and I nodded._

I did grow into it, just like he said I would, and I never grew to the point where it was too tight. He'd tied it just right.

It never untwined, the anklet I mean. It never broke, a string never came loose, it was never frayed. No matter how many times I jumped into the lake, climbed the lava wall, or fought monsters . . . the anklet was never harmed.

That is how I knew all those years that Luke never truly turned his back on us. All the moments I had come face to face with him during the war, I'd look at the anklet for a split second, and then I'd know what to do. He was always my friend and that's how I had known he'd save us all in the end. He was a hero.

Even after the war ended and the war after that as well, it was still intact. Even as Percy and I got married, when we had kids, lived our lives. Even now, as I walked to the gates of Elysium, it was still there as perfect as it had been the day he gave it to me. Percy was the first one to hug me at the gates, giving me a kiss that I gladly returned; I had missed him so much. Next came tons of joyous reunions from many of my friends as I had out lived most of them.

After things had settled down, I was able to take a look at my surroundings and that's when I notice him, standing off to the side, shuffling his feet on the soft grass beneath him.

"Hi, Luke." I said, trying to get his attention. He looked up immediately and gave me a small smile.

"Hey, Annabeth, how do you like Elysium? Well, that's stupid of me to ask, you've only been here a few minutes. The beach is awesome, and you and Percy have your own place, and, um, yeah."

I laughed at his awkwardness and he dropped his head embarrassed. For a moment, Luke froze, staring at something on the floor. I followed his gaze and realized he had noticed the anklet.

"You're still wearing it?" He asked, lifting his head, our eyes locking. I could see the emotions held in those little, blue circles . . . surprise, shock, happiness.

"Is it really that much of a shock? Of course, I'm still wearing it, why wouldn't I?" I asked, confused.

"I thought you hated me. I thought you wouldn't even want to look at me when you got here." He replied; eyes now filled with sadness. For a moment, we stood there, not saying a word and then I tackled him in a bone crushing hug.

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around me, not sure why I had a hugged him. "Annie?"

I pulled away and smiled, "Now, where would you get such a silly idea? We're friends."

After realizing what I had said, well . . . let's just say I've never received a bigger bear hug.

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A/N: To the Percy Jackson fans who read my main fanfic, I am so sorry I haven't been able to update. I'm trying my best, but I can promise you that I will finish the series!


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